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Does anyone else have a theory that the reason dead skin builds up is because thats a sign that our skin is healing itself? I mean the only place where dead skin cells build up on my body just so happens to be the only place on my body that I used to repeatedly wash/break down my skin (my face). If this be the case, do u think over time (granted we don't mess with our faces anymore) that our skin would heal itself and no longer have this buildup of dead skin? Discuss.
Dead skin cells on the surface is natural, skin cells die and new cells surface to the top, this is normal skin regeneration.
But in order to keep a healthy cell regeneration cycle you need your skin to be moisturized and not dry, when it is dry it is when you are slowing the regeneration process, causing unhealthy skin.
Dead skin cells on the surface is natural, skin cells die and new cells surface to the top, this is normal skin regeneration.
But in order to keep a healthy cell regeneration cycle you need your skin to be moisturized and not dry, when it is dry it is when you are slowing the regeneration process, causing unhealthy skin.
Yes, yes this I understand. But if I don't manually wash my face using my hands this dead skin builds up pretty rapidly. It's like my face doesn't know how to shed itself!
Some members have had good luck with the "no treatment" approach, and they say that it is a result of their skin re-learning how to repair itself properly. I've never had any luck with this approach myself, but others have. I think acne sufferers, for whatever reason, just have something to where our skin doesn't shed evenly, thus causing the build-up and breakouts.
Actually I believe that some people are not able to shed skin properly, and this has little or nothing to do with whether or not you wash your face. I feel that I am one of these people; when I was only using a gentle cleanser and moisturizer, my skin got so clogged up with dead skin it was ridiculous. Of course, having excess dead skin and oil creates acne, so people who have this problem are more likely to be acne sufferers...I have no idea what causes an inability to shed skin...I now use topicals that exfoliate my skin for me and haven't had problems with dead skin since.
I don't seem to build up dead skin on my body, except for on my elbows which makes perfect sense: I shower every day and use a puff or wash cloth which exfoliates the body. If I were doing nothing to my face I'm sure I would have a ton of dead skin..I don't think that dead skin build up is in particular an indicator of healthy skin...in fact if you leave dead skin on your face I would imagine it would lead to breakouts...just my opinion.
Some members have had good luck with the "no treatment" approach, and they say that it is a result of their skin re-learning how to repair itself properly. I've never had any luck with this approach myself, but others have. I think acne sufferers, for whatever reason, just have something to where our skin doesn't shed evenly, thus causing the build-up and breakouts.
Yes, I myself have been doing this "no treatment" approach and for the most part has worked wonders! (with the exception of the dead skin buildup). I have been letting water touch my face once a night in the shower, but not touching it. I think what I'll do now is get all that gunk offa my face and go for a week w/o letting water touch it at all to see if that helps. Maybe the water is making my skin cells sticky, therefore, prohibiting them to slough off on their own. Who knows? If this doesn't work I guess I got's a problem. 
Actually I believe that some people are not able to shed skin properly, and this has little or nothing to do with whether or not you wash your face. I feel that I am one of these people; when I was only using a gentle cleanser and moisturizer, my skin got so clogged up with dead skin it was ridiculous. Of course, having excess dead skin and oil creates acne, so people who have this problem are more likely to be acne sufferers...I have no idea what causes an inability to shed skin...I now use topicals that exfoliate my skin for me and haven't had problems with dead skin since.
I don't seem to build up dead skin on my body, except for on my elbows which makes perfect sense: I shower every day and use a puff or wash cloth which exfoliates the body. If I were doing nothing to my face I'm sure I would have a ton of dead skin..I don't think that dead skin build up is in particular an indicator of healthy skin...in fact if you leave dead skin on your face I would imagine it would lead to breakouts...just my opinion.
Common sense would point to if you leave dead skin on your face unattended that it would lead to breakouts, but in my case it didn't. This is a God-honest testimony. For 50 straight days (you can look at my previous posts) I didn't do anything to my face except for letting water run down it during my showers. I took no vitamins of any sort and ate anything I wanted without regard to how it might affect acne. It was a great leap of faith indeed. I saw no increase in breakouts or acne, but rather a reduction in size and the time it took to heal. The only problem was the dull, dead skin appearance from looking up close. From 3+ feet I looked golden. The thing that puzzles me is that before I ever started abusing my face with topicals I had no problem with excessive dead skin (4-5 years ago). Which brings me to believe that eventually if I don't damage my face anymore that it will return to normal, but the fear of the unknown is what drives me up the wall!
Shielding lotions restore the skin's protective functions, very similar to the way they were before modern life resulted in frequent washing, giving the skin time to restore its integrity and protective abilities. With this protection in place, loss of natural oils and moisture is significantly reduced. Irritants are kept from the deeper layers of the skin preventing even more severe skin disorders.
Perhaps this is the key in achieving a healthy skin.
Actually I believe that some people are not able to shed skin properly, and this has little or nothing to do with whether or not you wash your face. I feel that I am one of these people; when I was only using a gentle cleanser and moisturizer, my skin got so clogged up with dead skin it was ridiculous. Of course, having excess dead skin and oil creates acne, so people who have this problem are more likely to be acne sufferers...I have no idea what causes an inability to shed skin...I now use topicals that exfoliate my skin for me and haven't had problems with dead skin since.
I don't seem to build up dead skin on my body, except for on my elbows which makes perfect sense: I shower every day and use a puff or wash cloth which exfoliates the body. If I were doing nothing to my face I'm sure I would have a ton of dead skin..I don't think that dead skin build up is in particular an indicator of healthy skin...in fact if you leave dead skin on your face I would imagine it would lead to breakouts...just my opinion.
Common sense would point to if you leave dead skin on your face unattended that it would lead to breakouts, but in my case it didn't. This is a God-honest testimony. For 50 straight days (you can look at my previous posts) I didn't do anything to my face except for letting water run down it during my showers. I took no vitamins of any sort and ate anything I wanted without regard to how it might affect acne. It was a great leap of faith indeed. I saw no increase in breakouts or acne, but rather a reduction in size and the time it took to heal. The only problem was the dull, dead skin appearance from looking up close. From 3+ feet I looked golden. The thing that puzzles me is that before I ever started abusing my face with topicals I had no problem with excessive dead skin (4-5 years ago). Which brings me to believe that eventually if I don't damage my face anymore that it will return to normal, but the fear of the unknown is what drives me up the wall!
The exact same thing happened with me. i dint really get much acne anyway but i did get one a tw2o spots a week ... since i stoped washing face complelty i rarely get any spots and the ones that i do i TINY (only ones you can see in harsh lighting) but i also noticed that my dead skin is building up alot more then it did before i stoped washing my face. this is probably becuase im not touching my face anymore and the dead cells are not being manually exfolieted. but even so the dead skin should not be sticking to your skin which is what im tryign to figure out. technically i still do get acne beucase i get one of two spots but i also do have ALOT of clogged pores on my nose which i think is a type of acne just not inflamed. anyway i know that in acne prone people typically the skin starts to thicken (called keratinisation) and skin shedding slows (called hyper cornification). In many, (not all) the cell linings of the internal walls of the hair follicle duct where the oil produced by sebaceous glands comes out of, thickens and so the tube narrows in diameter, so you have more oil trying to get out of a narrower tube. Also skin cells become stickier and clump together, so the rate at which we naturally shed skin slows down, resulting in the build up of surface skin debris which in conjunction with excess oil forms a 'plug' in the duct opening which is closing as a result of skin thickening. This creates a blockage. ive noticed that my skin is oily on my nose forehead and inner cheeks near my nose but my skin does feel and look very dry. from my research water and sebum (oil) in the skin are complely differnt when it comes to hydrating the skin. as in people who have oily skin can also have low water content due to a high rate of TEWL. So, now im trying to find ways of increasing the water content of my skin by drinking loads of water and using a sheilding lotion like the person above mentioned to reduce TEWL.
wow man thanx for the insight! me and u aren't the only ones who have experienced this either, there are several testaments spread out among threads on this site. I bet this is something we have developed over time because of all the so-called "treatments" we were using. And over time we have abrupted the skin's natural renewing/healing process for so long that it's gunna take some will-power and time to get back to the natural condition it once was before. Just my 2 cents anyway. It could be completely inaccurate, but like I've stated before, I never had this problem leading up to the days before I started washing my face regularly. I wish I could go back to the first day I started raping my face with chemicals and kick myself in between the legs! 
@v_singhwow man thanx for the insight! me and u aren't the only ones who have experienced this either, there are several testaments spread out among threads on this site. I bet this is something we have developed over time because of all the so-called "treatments" we were using. And over time we have abrupted the skin's natural renewing/healing process for so long that it's gunna take some will-power and time to get back to the natural condition it once was before. Just my 2 cents anyway. It could be completely inaccurate, but like I've stated before, I never had this problem leading up to the days before I started washing my face regularly. I wish I could go back to the first day I started raping my face with chemicals and kick myself in between the legs!
i personly cant aggree with your theory of why our skin is building up etc casued by using harsh ingredients. the only thing ive every used was BP above 4-5 years ago and i dint do it for long like 1 month. i have never really used soap or cleansers on my face most of my life except about 6- months ago when i started to use a cleanser . ... again i only used it for like 1 month regulary beucase it would dry out my skin even the sensitive ones cleansers. But i have alywas washed my face with water which can actually may dry ksin probelms worse and excelerate tewl. my skin fels tight when i use plain tap water. this is why i stoped washing my face with water and my skin has healed up in terms of the spots i used to get. My theory is basically increasing the amount of WATER in the skin to keep it hyrated and healthy. i read that for skin to look and feel healhty it has to have about 10 - 20 % water in the stratum corneum. The stratum corneum (or horny layer) is the outermost layer of the epidermis. the amount of water in skin cells decrease as they move upwards to the 'surface' of the skin. i know that the SC is mostly dead skin cells but i personally believe that they can be either healthy or un-healhty dead skin cells (if you know what i mean lol). for them to be healthy they need the right nutrients, water etc when they are at the deepest layers of the skin - dermis (this is where i think our problem starts). As the cells migrate to the outmost layer they can be healhy at the SC only if they were healhty at the deeper layers. (sorry im not good at explaing things lol).
btw an increase in water loss in the skin can actaully make the skin produce more sebum. sebum doesnt actaully hydrate the skin, atleast not in the same way as water. this is porbably the 2 or 3 step that starts the acne process. hormones being the 1st. Hormones make the skin sensitve to DHT which is why acne generally starts at puberty. when this happens all the stuff i mentioned in my prevouis post follow:
skin starts to thicken
skin shedding slows
skin cells become stickier and clump together
Actually I believe that some people are not able to shed skin properly, and this has little or nothing to do with whether or not you wash your face. I feel that I am one of these people; when I was only using a gentle cleanser and moisturizer, my skin got so clogged up with dead skin it was ridiculous. Of course, having excess dead skin and oil creates acne, so people who have this problem are more likely to be acne sufferers...I have no idea what causes an inability to shed skin...I now use topicals that exfoliate my skin for me and haven't had problems with dead skin since.
I don't seem to build up dead skin on my body, except for on my elbows which makes perfect sense: I shower every day and use a puff or wash cloth which exfoliates the body. If I were doing nothing to my face I'm sure I would have a ton of dead skin..I don't think that dead skin build up is in particular an indicator of healthy skin...in fact if you leave dead skin on your face I would imagine it would lead to breakouts...just my opinion.
Common sense would point to if you leave dead skin on your face unattended that it would lead to breakouts, but in my case it didn't. This is a God-honest testimony. For 50 straight days (you can look at my previous posts) I didn't do anything to my face except for letting water run down it during my showers. I took no vitamins of any sort and ate anything I wanted without regard to how it might affect acne. It was a great leap of faith indeed. I saw no increase in breakouts or acne, but rather a reduction in size and the time it took to heal. The only problem was the dull, dead skin appearance from looking up close. From 3+ feet I looked golden. The thing that puzzles me is that before I ever started abusing my face with topicals I had no problem with excessive dead skin (4-5 years ago). Which brings me to believe that eventually if I don't damage my face anymore that it will return to normal, but the fear of the unknown is what drives me up the wall!
hmm well when you weren't using topicals, did you use a wash cloth or some other method of manual exfoliation? You could try a baby hair brush to massage your face (just with water)...I don't see why it would be helpful to leave the dead skin on your face, but I'm not an expert...I don't know if it's cold where you are, but climate could definitely be a cause of excessive flakes this time of year. You could try putting a humidifier in your room...what kind of acne did you have before?
I'm glad that you feel the do nothing method has reduced your acne...I just don't think it could work for me...I have chest and back acne that I've "done nothing" to for long long periods of time, and it does not go away...using topicals on my chest and back helps, period. As far as my face goes, I've washed with cetaphil and done nothing else and at another time, used an all natural cleanser and moisturizer and nothing else....that didn't work for me either. I'm glad it works for you though. good luck
Thanks for the input bran. I never started intentionally "exfoliating" until last fall, but I only did that for like a 1-month period of time. Three years ago when I went to the derm I got prescribed some sort of Phosphate Anti-bacterial lotion to apply during the mornings, and Retin-A at night along w/ oral Tetracycline (anti-biotic). That's the only time I've been spotless in the past 5 years, but I didn't want to do that routine forever. So hopefully this works out. It is cold here in KY sometimes, but the thing about Ohio Valley weather is if you don't like the weather one day, just wait a few days and it'll change! i.e. We had a huge ice storm come through here last week that wiped out a lot of peoples power, and now this week were in the 60's with the sun shining! And my skin (at least on my face) didn't seem to change regarding temperature. I thought about getting a humidifier for my room, but then I thought that's a little much to be going out of my way for my skin. lol
getting a humidifuer for your room i think would be a good thing to do. you can get a cheap one .... use a humectent based mostorizer (glycerin) or pure hyaluronic acid (HA is not an acid at all but its just been given that name) as a moistorizer ... these absorb water from the air and the increased humidty would mean more water in the air. by the way humectant based moistorizers can actually dry out your skin aswell if the humidity is low - they are able to draw water in from the air or the deeper layers of the skin. i forgot what the realitve humidity % has to be in order for them to be effective but bascailly the higher the humidtdy the better... but not too high.
you dont have to buy a humidifier you can just put a pan of water in your room.
I tried searching for a connection of skin healing and dead skin build up. Nothing came up. No one probably knows about this connection as of now.
Well, my dead skin build up has drastically reduced since yesterday. It's like from 100% down to 2%. And the skin on areas I used to wash now has a renewed skin. I still don't know when I would let water touch my face but I'll certainly let you know.
AxelAlmighty, waterwater and Adam08 all said that letting water touch your face would prolong the process. I don't know about that since I don't let water touch mine. But this I'm sure is that I am in my day 35 and the dead skin build up is almost gone. Oh by the way, I tried to run through my finger on areas where no dead skin buildup is observe and a lot of dead skin flakes got caught in my finger nails. They are not noticeable so I don't care about them. You could check out my album to see my experience. 
I tried searching for a connection of skin healing and dead skin build up. Nothing came up. No one probably knows about this connection as of now.
Well, my dead skin build up has drastically reduced since yesterday. It's like from 100% down to 2%. And the skin on areas I used to wash now has a renewed skin. I still don't know when I would let water touch my face but I'll certainly let you know.
AxelAlmighty, waterwater and Adam08 all said that letting water touch your face would prolong the process. I don't know about that since I don't let water touch mine. But this I'm sure is that I am in my day 35 and the dead skin build up is almost gone. Oh by the way, I tried to run through my finger on areas where no dead skin buildup is observe and a lot of dead skin flakes got caught in my finger nails. They are not noticeable so I don't care about them. You could check out my album to see my experience.
Wapak, glad to see ur doing well! Let us know when u do decide to let water touch ur face again as I am eager to see how ur skin reacts. U know, I haven't seen anyone have success with this unless they avoid water alltogether (dead skin subsiding), so I guess theres a reason for that. This is definetly taking a lot of willpower.
in order to shed skin and repair skin you need enzymes, and if your skin isint moisturized enzymes cannot do their work in shedding dead skin so new cells come up.
Don't worry, my skin and yepican's skin are doing great at moisturizing itself. With our sebum layer restored, it traps inside the things we need to be kept moisturized. We don't have to use any more products to moisturize our skin because it is doing it's job very well.
In my opinion, the shedding simply happens to remove the damaged skin and be replaced by a new healthy one.
Don't worry, my skin and yepican's skin are doing great at moisturizing itself. With our sebum layer restored, it traps inside the things we need to be kept moisturized.
Personally, I believe what those dermatologists said: there can be no doubt as to the insignificance of sebum as a moisturizing agent.
Personally, I believe what those dermatologists said: there can be no doubt as to the insignificance of sebum as a moisturizing agent.
Probably yes, probably no. Sebum itself does not moisturize. But sebum keeps our natural moisturizing agents inside and not letting any leak out that leads to dryness. This is the reason why regimens that needs to wash needs to moisturize to artificially replace the moisturizing agents that is lost because they don't have a sebum layer. But nothing can fool the skin so later on after they wash and moisturize, their face becomes a frying pan with oil. 
I believe dermatologists said so in order to make people keep buying moisturizing products! Of course, this comes with a price, profit for the industry to provide research funds for them and suffering for us. 
Personally, I believe what those dermatologists said: there can be no doubt as to the insignificance of sebum as a moisturizing agent.Probably yes, probably no. Sebum itself does not moisturize. But sebum keeps our natural moisturizing agents inside and not letting any leak out that leads to dryness. This is the reason why regimens that needs to wash needs to moisturize to artificially replace the moisturizing agents that is lost because they don't have a sebum layer.
Those dermatologists don't even go THAT far. They clearly state that sebum, neither directly nor indirectly, has any significant effect at moisturizing. They cite scientific studies and articles to support their claim.
I believe dermatologists said so in order to make people keep buying moisturizing products! Of course, this comes with a price, profit for the industry to provide research funds for them and suffering for us.
No, they used logic and reasoning to argue their case, without reference to any moisturizing products at all. Did you read that thread I told you about? It's titled "Does sebum help 'moisturize' the skin??", and it's in this same forum (General acne products and oily skin issues).
Yes, I have checked that one out. I know, we have great scientists out there. The problem is that most of them are already eaten by the corruptness of this society. It's so sad because information is being twisted in greed's whim. And we have those non-profit organizations to keep them in check but that is not enough. 
Here is an example: Sunscreen Not Effective?
One of you guys should try to exfoliate with something natural once a week.. Just to get rid of some of the dead skin and it will stimulate new cell generation. It could be the trick to try that a few weeks and see if the new skin is able to slough better since your acne's reduced..
Does anyone else have a theory that the reason dead skin builds up is because thats a sign that our skin is healing itself? I mean the only place where dead skin cells build up on my body just so happens to be the only place on my body that I used to repeatedly wash/break down my skin (my face). If this be the case, do u think over time (granted we don't mess with our faces anymore) that our skin would heal itself and no longer have this buildup of dead skin? Discuss.
I would like to make another point:
Our whole epidermis (the first layer of our skin) is based on compacted dead skin cells, what you are probably experiencing is flaky skin from dryness. Our skin continually heals itself and builds up new cells to replace the old dead skin cell layer on our face.